Jacob Ogles
Another poll shows U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist leading the Democratic field for Florida Governor.
The political committee Floridians For Economic Advancement conducted a poll of likely Democratic voters in the state. Pollsters reached respondents via an online panel. They tested the favorability ratings for the major Democratic candidates and asked who voters intended to support.
With no further information on the candidates, about 36% of those surveyed support Crist, compared to 25% who favor Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and just 6% who want state Sen. Annette Taddeo. Of the remaining respondents, 10% said they favored “someone else” and 23% were “unsure.”
Pollsters later read biographies of the three major candidates and asked respondents again for a preference. Support for all three candidates rose, but Crist remained a favorite for 39%, with 30% picking Fried and 17% choosing Taddeo. The remaining 14% of voters remained uncertain.
“I’m grateful and humbled by the continued support of Floridians’ across the state who are ready for new leadership in Tallahassee and share our vision of a Florida for all,” Crist said in a Tuesday news release. “Our campaign continues on a mission to build a strong grassroots movement powered by the people and for the people. This is only the beginning, together we can and will flip Florida blue and deliver the change our state deserves. We won’t stop fighting for Florida.”
The bios spotlighted that Taddeo was “the first Latina Democrat to win a seat in the Florida Senate and formally served as the chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Caucus.” It also mentioned Fried was “the highest-ranking Democrat statewide” and a former marijuana industry lobbyist. For Crist, the bio noted the Congressman previously served as “Governor of Florida, Attorney General and Florida Education Commissioner.”
The poll included responses from 1,007 likely Democratic Primary voters in the state.
The survey also included favorability on all three candidates that showed the intensity of support and opposition to each candidate.
That found Crist with the highest favorables — and unfavorables — among likely Democratic voters.
About 60% of those surveyed had a favorable view of Crist, and 29% had a “very favorable” view. Meanwhile, about 15% had an unfavorable view of the Republican-turned-Democrat, with 5% describing a very unfavorable view.
For Fried, about 48% had a favorable view, with about 25% holding a very favorable opinion of her. Meanwhile, about 10% held an unfavorable view, and about 4% very unfavorable.
Taddeo had a solid standing with 21% of respondents, with 12% holding a somewhat favorable view and 9% a very favorable one. Just 8% had a negative view, with 3% giving a very unfavorable impression.
But about 43% were unaware of Taddeo and another 29% held no opinion. That compared to 17% unaware of Fried and 25% with no opinion. Only 11% had no awareness of Crist, and just 15% had no opinion on the Congressman.
The winner of the Democratic nomination will likely face Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in November.
6 comments
Ron Ogden
February 14, 2022 at 7:50 am
“It also mentioned Taddeo was “the highest-ranking Democrat statewide” and a former marijuana industry lobbyist.”
Wait a minute. I have seen Fried described in this blog and elsewhere as “the highest ranking Democrat statewide and a former marijuana industry lobbyist.” Which is it? Are they all former marijuana industry lobbyists? Is it, like, a litmus test for Ds?
Nevertheless, it seems Charlie gets a nod from barely more than one in three Ds. Wow. (That was “wow” without even an exclamation point, you notice.) Maybe they’re too busy consuming Fried’s product to be following FLAPOL yet. Or, perhaps, they’re just focused on trying to figure out who really is the “highest ranking Democrat statewide” etc.
Ron Ogden
February 14, 2022 at 3:38 pm
“It also mentioned Fried was “the highest-ranking Democrat statewide” and a former marijuana industry lobbyist.”
Yes, Fried. Thank you for amending the text. I wish it hadn’t taken so long. Where do I send the bill?
zhombre
February 14, 2022 at 8:10 am
Losers all. And one of them probably Crist will lose to DeSantis in November,
Ron Ogden
February 14, 2022 at 9:58 am
Since FLAPOL canceled by earlier comment, I will try again to point out that Fried, not Taddeo, is the candidate who has been identified in the past as the leading statewide Democrat (by virtue of her office) and as a former marijuana lobbyist, as she was, as a matter of fact. The fifth paragraph identifies Taddeo in both cases, and I believe that is factually wrong.
Let’s see if Scorchy and company can accept this comment.
Ron Ogden
February 14, 2022 at 10:00 am
Since FLAPOL canceled my earlier comment, I will try again to point out that Fried, not Taddeo, is the candidate who has been identified in the past as the leading statewide Democrat (by virtue of her office) and as a former marijuana lobbyist, as she was, as a matter of fact. The fifth paragraph identifies Taddeo in both cases, and I believe that is factually wrong.
Let’s see if Scorchy and company can accept this comment.
NPA-Proud
February 14, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Yikes … Fried went from rising star (key-note speaker at DNC) to an afterthought in her state’s own party despite having a previous voter infrastructure capable of winning a state ride race (DNC basically said see ya later I wonder why?) .
From the grassroots to the donor class the two things that hurt her was that donation to Moody in 2018, while a Dem was on the ticket (say what you want about Christ but he has consolidated Black Americans and hasn’t went back since he endorsed Obama; Fried basically got Desantis elected by not taking down ballot races seriously .04% …).
The other thing was her inability to recruit, retain and inspire TALENT, voters and donors with any kind of messaging, she just running on marijuana legalization and against the GOP as opposed to having a platform on her own. To be fair to Fried, politics today is mostly performative instead of actually having substance to run on (thank Newt and Trump for that one) but it would be nice to see detailed policy proposals or town halls coming from her camp.
Fried broke political barriers for the Jewish community in Florida, opening up a avenue where we can see have a Chuck Schumer type figure here in the future and she should be proud of that but the quick rise and fall of her time in office, is going to go down in history as an inability to ‘connect” her message to real people outside the Dem bubble
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